The day of the 50km Tour of the Bay arrived too quickly. Feeling excited and more than a little nervous I ate my porridge, donned cycling gear and filled the water bottle with Powerade.
The Hastings Sports Park was packed with cars and cyclists and that’s when the heart really started racing. I walked my bike to the start line, hoping I’d done enough training to get up the hills. My family smiled and waved from the sideline as the countdown began and I did a wobbly smile back.
Then we were off! The group quickly spread out, with everyone giving each other plenty of room. I managed to get in behind a small bunch of cyclists on Omahu Road – Dad’s ‘slip steam’ training paying off.
The Ohiti Road hill loomed and I switched to my lowest gear and worked up it. It was an amazing feeling reaching the top and not having to get off my bike. \I knew then that I could finish the race. The remaining hills and straights passed by and I concentrated on keeping my speed up and eating the odd wine gum.
I finished the race in 2 hours 17 minutes. Apart from a slight mishap with a spoke breaking (I jammed it behind some others) all went well. No falling off, no passing out – I can actually do this!
Next year, I’m aiming for under 2 hours.
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